Retro trailers house retailers

Aggelige Spanos, owner of Organic Designs by Aggelige, looks out the back window of the Airstream trailer that houses her business at The Camp in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Jay Allerton, owner of Mode Bikes, loves his Airstream trailer at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Karen Hsiang, owner of The Shangri-La Jewelry Boutique, sits inside a vintage trailer she rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Parker Macy, owner of vintage record store Creme Tangerine, hangs out in the 1957 Kenskill Canned Ham trailer he rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Alex Armstrong and her husband just bought Viva Eclectico, a crafts and vintage clothing and home decor store housed in this trailer at The Camp in Costa Mesa. They renamed it Nuestras Manos. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Karen Hsiang, owner of The Shangri-La Jewelry Boutique, sits inside the vintage trailer she rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Aggelige Spanos, owner of Organic Designs, poses in the Airstream trailer that houses her business at The Camp in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Jay Allerton, owner of Mode Bikes, sits on one of his custom made creations in front of his Airstream trailer at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Alex Armstrong and her husband just bought Viva Eclectico, a vintage clothing store housed in this trailer at The Camp in Costa Mesa. They renamed it Nuestras Manos. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

The Airstream that houses Organic Designs by Aggelige sits tucked away at The Camp in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Parker Macy, owner of vintage record store Creme Tangerine, chats with a friend in front of the 1957 Kenskill Canned Ham trailer he rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Karen Hsiang, owner of The Shangri-La Jewelry Boutique sits inside the Airstream-like trailer she rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Alex Armstrong and her husband just bought Viva Eclectico, a vintage clothing store housed in this trailer at The Camp in Costa Mesa. They renamed it Nuestras Manos. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Jay Allerton, owner of Mode Bikes, loves his Airstream trailer at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

A customer peruses Organic Designs by Aggelige at The Camp in Costa Mesa. The business is housed in and around a vintage trailer. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Karen Hsiang runs her jewelry store, The Shangri-La Jewelry Boutique, from a vintage trailer she rents at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

1 of 17

Josue Fonseca sifts through records inside the 1957 Kenskill Canned Ham trailer that houses Creme Tangerine, a vintage record store at The LAB in Costa Mesa. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Paola Badiali was walking through The LAB in Costa Mesa when she spied a petite stainless steel trailer. She stopped in her tracks, riveted, and slowly took it all in – the gleaming exterior, the blackboard-painted walls and the array of handcrafted earrings, necklaces and rings displayed inside a vintage trailer repurposed as a modern retail shop.

It was her first time to visit The Shangri-La, a fashion jewelry boutique that Karen Hsiang opened eight months ago in this unusual setting.

"I love it," said Badiali, who lives in Newport Beach. "It's so different."

The Shangri-La is one of five small businesses housed in re-imagined Airstream and Kenskill trailers at The LAB and The Camp shopping centers in Costa Mesa.

What started out as an idea sketched on paper back in 1998 at LAB Holdings and became an experiment in 2009 is now a full-fledged retail concept tailor made for small businesses that have a hip or alternative spin.

Last week, Nuestras Manos, an etsy-like shop that sells handmade crafts and art along with vintage clothing and home goods, became the fifth store in the area, after owners Alexandra and Jeff Amstrong took over the trailer occupied by Viva Eclectico at The Camp.

In mid-November, Venice Beach-based Aviator Nation, which specializes in vintage T-shirt reproductions, will join the five-trailer roster with the company's first freestanding boutique in Orange County, housed in a 23-foot Airstream Land Yacht at The LAB, which bills itself as the anti-mall.

Purposely small quarters

"The Airstreams are really meant to be incubators," said Shaheen Sadeghi, CEO of LAB Holdings, which owns both shopping centers. In that respect, the trailers borrow from the food truck concept, in that some entrepreneurs test the market with food trucks and eventually open restaurants after gaining financial momentum and regular customers. The trailers are similar to the kiosk concept at malls, except that they've been imbued with a retro-cool sensibility.

Sadeghi's company, which pioneered the anti-mall idea in the '90s, buys used Airstream and Kenskill trailers, then guts and cleans them up, creating a blank space ready to be transformed into a retail space. At the same time, he and his team scout for retail entrepreneurs whose products are compatible with the funky vibe at LAB Holding's shopping centers.

At The LAB, the eclectic mix includes Crème Tangerine, a store by Parker Macy that sells vintage LPs, and Mode Bikes, Jay Allerton's by-appointment-only shop for handmade custom cruisers and bicycles. Across Bristol Street at The Camp, there's a teardrop trailer that's used for weekend events to promote artists and artisans.

"We've always had a passion for these Airstreams and vintage trailers," Sadeghi said. "They've had great relationship to the Southern California culture. They have that sense of authenticity.

"When we were developing The Camp, the original plan was to have Airstreams and turn The Camp into an Airstream trailer retail park. Then the logistics kicked in and we were trying to figure out how to work with the regulations, which were daunting. So the idea kind of went away."

Perhaps it was all about timing.

In 2009, Aggelige Spanos had a shop in San Clemente, but wanted to open a small store at The Camp for her succulents, cacti and garden décor. The novel and recession-friendly idea of housing the store in a tiny but unusual and less expensive setting appealed so much to both Spanos and LAB Holdings that Organic Designs by Aggelige became the first retail trailer store at a LAB Holdings property. Three years later, the vines have grown around the store and Spanos has become a resource for other retailers in trailers.

As Spanos and others found, the costs of running a business in a trailer are lower than they would be in a conventional store in a building. Monthly payments on a one-year or two-year lease start at around $1,000, depending on the size and location of the trailer. That includes electricity and the trailer that's ready to be furnished.

Unusual challenges

There are some drawbacks - most of which trailer store owners said are minor - that aren't found in conventional stores.

Temperatures in the summer can make the inside of the trailers hot. Rain, however infrequent, forces store owners to quickly scoop up their merchandise displayed outside and sometimes close shop for a period or for the day.

The trailers also can accommodate only up to three or four people at a time, including the owner or salesperson.

There's also the aspect of limited inventory because there isn't any storage space. That was something Paige Mycoskie, founder and designer of Aviator Nation, considered as she thought of opening a small location in Orange County. What started out as a challenge became the inspiration for her inventory selection.

"The LAB store is different from our other locations," Mycoskie said. "It's small and special. People will find unique colors and variations of designs, but not most of our signature styles."

Mycoskie's business model is unlike those of the other retailers in trailers in that she already had successful locations before expanding with a tiny Orange County site. The five other trailer-located businesses at The LAB and The Camp fall into what Sadeghi considers an incubation category.

Eventually, though, some businesses outgrow the trailer's tight quarters or have to move out or come up with a creative solution. Allerton of Mode Bikes started crafting the bikes outside the converted 1968 Airstream Safari at The LAB, but as demand for his bikes grew, he needed more space. The solution? He rented industrial space in the lot next to The LAB and made the Airstream an "office" to meet clients and a space to house parts.

Other applications

Meanwhile, LAB Holdings, having seen the success of the retail trailer idea, is applying it to its other properties in Anaheim, including the Packing District.

Two trailers will soon be installed at Center Street Promenade, one near Gypsy Den and the other near Barbeer Shop. One will be a lounge with free wi-fi - a place to sit and relax for customers visiting the promenade, he said, the other, offices for the Anaheim downtown association.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.